On day 11, we left the scenic Henley on Thames towards Windsor racecourse via the Boathouse restaurant at Boulters lock on Raymill island.
We enjoyed seeing all the vintage boats passing us on the way to Henley including a steam boat. We handed out leaflets and told everyone what we were doing along the river. The Boathouse gave us an amazing reception and lunch was superb. After lunch a fellow soldier and long term friend LJ joined us for the afternoon on the water.
When we arrived at Windsor racecourse we were greeted by another friend who’s also still serving. After having a good nights sleep we headed to Alexandra gardens the following morning to be met by Councillor Samantha Raynor and a couple of the Welsh guards for some photos with the Castle in the background.
We then headed off to London. A long day of paddling ahead. We arrived at 356 Field Hospital Reserves Centre, Kingston that evening. The following day Izzy Raynor joined us on the water for a further 10 miles along the Thames, a tough 10 miles as there was a lot of head wind and Bank holiday traffic on the water.
Then the final day had arrived, the RNLI had kindly given us times to meet due to the tide table. We started early but then realised we were going faster than planned so stopped to see Teddington and Chiswick’s RNLI stations along the route.
We came up to the finish line at around 1 o’clock to the Thames rowing club, Putney. It was an amazing sight to see supporters cheering from the banks, the landing and club. We also had the Pipe Major and another piper from the Irish guards playing as we landed!
A very emotional finish and a fantastic way to finish after over 300 miles.
Thank you to everyone that has supported us and our cause so far. You can still donate by heading to our Just Giving page here:
Ed
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